OUR SPEAKERS
SAMINA ALI
Samina Ali is an award-winning author, curator, and popular speaker. Her debut novel, Madras on Rainy Days (Farrar, Straus, Giroux), was the winner of France’s prestigious Prix Premier Roman Etranger Award and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award in Fiction. Poets & Writers Magazine named it a Top Debut of the Year.
Continuing in the spirit of her widely popular Tedx talk, “What Does the Qur’an Really Say about a Muslim Woman’s Hijab?”, Samina is currently writing a nonfiction book that weaves her personal story with a passionate appeal for women’s equality and justice.
DR. REEM EL MUTWALLI
Dr Reem Tariq El Mutwalli, is a published author, lead curator and public speaker. With over 30 years of experience, she is an expert consultant in Islamic art and architecture, interior design, historic dress and UAE heritage.
She is also the founder of the Zay Initiative. A non-profit UK Charity advancing the preservation of cultural heritage, through the collection, documentation and digital archiving of Arab historical attire and their stories. Our goal is to empower and sustain global cross cultural dialogue to inspire creative minds.